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Litespeed 2013 Ti Cross Frame Comes Ready for Disc Brakes & Cantilevers

Written by Colin McCaleb
2013 Litespeed CX Cyclocross Titanium Frame
10 Comments
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2013 Litespeed CX Cyclocross Titanium Frame

With the 2011-12 cross season coming to a close, it’s now time to get prepared for next year. You know, that time of year when you look back and decide which bits and pieces are ready for an upgrade.

Should your bits and pieces be up to snuff, Litespeed is ready with a new frame.  Not only are they ready for your future, but the new Ti Cross frame is ready for the future, too, with the option to equip either cantilever or disc brakes. While ‘cross braking tech seems to be moving forward, it’s nice to see the Tennessee-based brand move backward a bit and return to its titanium roots with a U.S.-made frame.

Interestingly, Litespeed has ditched the tapered head tube on this frame.  This may be good, may be bad, but does promise for different handling.

The 2013 titanium (3AL/2.5V) frame should be released just in time for next season. More pictures and details after the break…

 

2013 Litespeed CX Titanium Cyclocross Frame Head Tube 2013 Litespeed CX Titanium Cross Frame Rear

Check out those brake mounts!  The rear spacing is 132.5mm allowing for either a 135mm rear disc setup or a 130mm cantilever setup with a little finesse. Presumably the disc mounts are lined up to account for the slight misalignment that’ll cause.

We should have more information about this frame soon, stay tuned…

Thanks Road.cc for the pics, check out more pics and info there in the meantime.
Colin McCaleb
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Evan
Evan
12 years ago

Meh. Should have put the disc mounts between the stays.

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yesplease
yesplease
12 years ago

Considering the majority of the new disc forks out right now are all tapered. The non-taper just cost the sales of one frame. I would of been all over this.

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choppochopy
choppochopy
12 years ago

Either use disc or cantilever. Either use 135 or 130. Pick one and commit. What’s with all the wishy washy half stepping stuff? Might as well throw a 3 speed fixed hub on as well. Otherwise this looks lovely.

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Tom
Tom
12 years ago

This bike annoys me on many different levels. I mostly agree with choppochopy.

1. The wishy washy stuff is annoying. 135 and no post-mounts please or the opposite. If I was looking for a frame to use with disc brakes I’d never entertain the idea of looking at a frame with post-mounts still on it.

2. To Evan’s point, I don’t mind where the disc mount is located. Mounting on the NDS chainstay introduces routing issues. Do you really want to run a hose or cable all the way down the down tube and along the stay on a cross frame…. it looks messy. However, this brings me to the annoyance: they go through the trouble of designing this bike around 2 brake setups and 2 hub standards but they accommodated cable routing for a rear disc brake? No mounts down the seat stay or guides along the TT?

“Presumably the disc mounts are lined up to account for the slight misalignment that’ll cause”
I am going to vote no seeing as they forgot about more obvious features.

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Tom
Tom
12 years ago

lao, ia it not missing a cable stop for the front derailleur?

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Seth Howard
Seth Howard
12 years ago

I agree with Tom and the other comments. Cable routing on this frame is a mess and the spacing and design show a lack of commitment.

Disc cross race bikes are at a really awkward stage right now and this is Exhibit A.

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Brandon
Brandon
12 years ago

At first glance I thought “SWEET”.

Then I read.

Non-tapered. So the good forks can’t be used.
Canti AND disc? No thanks. I don’t want canti studs hanging around not being used.
132.5 spacing? Just what I want to do is “stretch” out the stays on my brand new hand-made Ti bike because it’s not right/
Cable routing? Who messed that one up?

Man, I love me some Ti, but there’s no way I’d buy this bike. No way.

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Chunky
Chunky
12 years ago

I’ll have my carbon disc only 135mm cross bike over this bike any day.

Litespeed need to look forward for a change. The really have produced some lame stuff over the last few years. Just cos it’s Ti…..

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Gillis
Gillis
12 years ago

I don’t mind the canti and disc set-up options, but i do agree the cable routing looks poor. If you’re going to offer both then I wouldn’t have included the fixed stop at the top of the seatstay and instead would have gone with an seatclamp integrated stop. Also the halfway spacing is a bad idea. I know Surly has done this in the past but for a bike with racing potential that’s not something I would want to have to contend with during a mid-race wheel change.

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Mac
Mac
12 years ago

Great comments by everyone above. The image above is NOT our final design for a cyclocross frame. The design above was for us to accommodate several pros for the US National Championships on short notice with virtually no guidance on the setups that the athletes would be using. There will be a Litespeed cyclocross frame that we’ll be ready to preview in the very near future, but I can assure you that this is not it. These shots were never intended for public display and should not have been sent out. Many of the criticisms listed had already been developed into the design we will be using for the new frame.

Hopefully this helps clear up some of the confusion.

Mac McEneaney
Litespeed

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